Should property owners show insurance exactimates to roofers?

TomB Said: - Most of these Insurance specialists are barely roofers - Most insist the owner give them the adjusters take-off and allowances before they quote the job.

We do the opposite- I dont really care what some adjuster or exactamate program comes up with - Thats all rendered through ill-legit business practices anyhow, (i.e., sub-game, etc.....).

TomB posted this in another topic and it brings up an interesting dilemma. In N. Texas, insurance pays for most of the roofing jobs. In fact, even if the roof is old and worn out, I will tell the property owner to make a claim and 2 out of 3 times insurance will pay the claim.

So, I always ask a potential client if insurance is involved. If it is, I ask for the adjuster's paperwork before I give a price. Most hand it over without a hitch, but others refuse and "just want a price". I believe the latter are trying to game me or the system, or both.

In my experience, 1) the adjuster almost always makes a mistake, and 2) no property owner can understand what is written in the report anyway- all they see is the price.

If it is an insurance job, after all, the price is between the roofer and the insurance company- the property owner is responsible for the deductible and any upgrades.

TomB Said: - However, that should only be addressed after the quote is prepared by the contractor in an unbiased environment.

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There is no such thing as an "unbiased environment". Every property owner has this third party middle man that must be dealt with called insurance.

Now you can wish the property owner will take your proposal and go figure it out with his insurance company, but I don't see that happening. The adjuster's paper work is indecipherable to the layperson and all they see is the check. So the savvy contractor is going to get the paperwork anyway- why not at the beginning of the process? If the property owner is not going to trust you at the beginning, how do you expect them to trust you after they compare your proposal to their tiny check?

Once a neighborhood is assaulted by storm chasers, the game must be played. I recently saw a news story on tv from a neighborhood swamped with "roofers" after a hail storm. The number one observation from the perplexed homeowners was how much all of the door knockers bad mouthed everyone else. It is a tragedy and the system is just wrong.

The homeowner is the one foot'n the bill. He/she purchases the insurance & is liable for future premium increases/cancellations, what-have-you.

The contractor is there to simply provide the service.

It would be reasonable for the contractor to assist the homeowner with communicating to his/her insurance co. if there are discrepancies - However, that should only be addressed after the quote is prepared by the contractor in an unbiased environment.

What I have experienced, (for the most-part), is a slew of half-azz wannabe roofers accosting residential neighborhoods following a "storm". most of which have little more actual roofing knowledge or experience than possibly installing some comp shingles.

They really don't understand any practical business practices or the trade that well, therefore, they rely on an ins. adjuster's "estimate".

I simply tell people that our estimate is higher than the insurance's scope of loss 95% or more of the time, so it is a waste of time for me to just give them an estimate. If they want a high quality roof, let us work with the insurance to get them to approve all the things they should approve. If that doesn't work for them, we just move on. They're obviously trying to pocket some of the money and we're not going to play that game.